Telegram-herald., 1887-12-27
NATIVITY OF CHRIST
O.. rALNAGEs CHRISTMAS sERNoN.
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8lth siignif4al- sway,
Es s-al reizl sizes. ise a scroll
Xsndsr heeEesz aass passed a3ay.
Rsv. I. DsNl1l Tzlasage, d. D., took as
ths subject & a. sarrnon, The H.aTn and Its
S1TroCndinssF Hz Lsrt sas taken from
Luke Il, l3 -Ihs s@<f hsrds said one 70 an
ether, Let us COS 20 ssen unto Bethlehem,
aAd ses tbs tang wLieh - ceme 10 pass"
DIT. Talln4ss sad:
ons tasus4at years ef the worlds exist
ence rolled painfully anf YEARLY along, and
no Christ Two thoUsand years, and no
ChTisr. Three thousand years, and 40 Christ.
bear THOUSAND years, and no chrlst Give
Va q Christ, lad cried AssyFian and Persian
and chaldsan aa1 J. sypfian civilization, bat
the bps q ths eaFth aud the lips of TIE SKY
made 10 answer The world had already
been actCans u genius. Among poets had
appeared Homer and Thespis and Aristoph-
ares and Sophocles And Earipities and Alexis
-A.scby lbs, set no Christ 10 bs the most poetic
figure of tbe centuries Among historians
bad appeared Hsro1StCs and Xenophon and
and Ihucydil.ss, bat no Christ from whom
Al history as 70 date backward and for
ward-B. C. and A. D. Among the con-
querors Cafnillus and Manlius aud Regulus
aud XanEsgpas and Hannibal and Scipio and
Pompey znd Cesar, yet no CHRIST WAC wss
10 be eonqllegor Of earth and heasea.
But tho slow century and tho slow year
and the slow month and the slow hour at
last arrived The world had had mathis or
concerts IN the morning and vespers and con
ccrts ia the evening. bat now it Is 10 have
concert az midnight The black window
shutters of a Decsgnber night were thrown
opea. and some of the best singers Of a world
where teey all sing stood there, and putting
back tho drspery OF cloud chanted "a peace
anthem, until al the echoes OF hill and val
iey applzaded and encored tho Hallelujah
chorus
Al last the world has Christ and just the
Christ II needs Come, let Us 20 into that
Christmas scene a though we had never be-
fore worshipped at ths inanger. Here is a
Madonna worth looking az. | wonder not
that the most frequent name in all lands and
in al Christian centuries is Mary. And there
are Marys in palaces and Marys IL cabins,
and though German and French and Italian
and Spanish and English pronounce il diff
ferentiy, thoy are all namesakes o the one
whom We find on bed Of straw with her
pale face against the soft cheek of Christ in
the night Of the Nativity. All the great
painters have tried on canvas To pre-
sent Mary and her child and the Incl
dents Of that most famous night of the
worlds history Raphael in three different
MASTERPIECES celebrated them Tintoret
and Guirlanjo surpassed themselves in the
elaboration Of the Magi." CorreSio needed
TO do nothing more than his "Madonna" TO
become immortal The Madonna of the
Lily by Leonardo da Vinci, viii kindle the
admiration Of AL ages. Murillo never won
greater triumph by his pencil than ii his
presentation OF the "Holy Family" But all
the galleries Of Dresden are forgotten when
think Of the small room of that gallery con-
tanning the ''Sistine Madonna Yet all Of
them were copies OF ST. Matthew'S MA
DONNA and Luke's Madonna the inspired
Madonna Of the Old Book, which we had put
into or hands when we were infants and
that we hope to have under our heads when
we die.
Behold, in the first place, that on the first
night OF Christs life God honored the brute
creation You cannot get into that Bethle-
hem barn without going past the camels, the
mules, The dogs, the oxen. The brutes OF
that stable heard the first cry of the infant
Lord Some Of the old painters represent
the oxen and camels kneeling that night be-
fore TIE new born babe And well might
they kneel. Have you ever thought that
Christ came. among other things, 20 alleviate
the saGerings OF the brute cre9tionl Was it
not appropriate that he should during the
first few days and nights Of His life on earth
be surrounded BY ths dumb beasts whose
III
for ages been a prayer to God for
tie arresting Of their tortnres and the
rirhtirz Of their wrongsl It did
not merely happen 50" that the unintelli-
gent creatures OF God should have been that
night in close neighborhood- Not kennel
in ali the centuries, not a birds nest, not a
wornout horse on towpath. not herd freez-
ing in the poorly built COW pen, not freight
car in summer time bringing the beeves to
market without water through a thousand
miles Of agony, not q surgeons room Witness
ing tho struggles OF fox OF rabbit or pigeon
OF dog In the horrors OF vivisection but has
an interest in the fact that Christ was born
in a stable surrounded by brutes. lie re-
members that night, ard the prayer re heard
I in their pitiful moan He viii answer ia the
punishueut of trose who naltTeat the dumb
this world as Wa have.
Rabold also in this Bible scere how on
that Christmas night God honored child
hood. Christ might have made bis first
visit 20 our world ia cloud In what a
chariot 4 alumiued vapor ho might have
rolled down the sky escorted BY mounted
cavalry With lightning Of drawn sword.
/ Efiish had \ carriage Of firs to take him up.
vvhv not Jesus a carriage Of fire to fetch him
: dornf or. over the arched bridge Of a. rain
bow the Lord might have descended. Or
l Christ might have had his mortality built
up on earth out Of the dust of garden. rs
was Adam. ia fuli manhood at ths start
without the introductory feebleness o. in
fancy. 10. no ChiIdhood was % be hon
cred by that advent Hs must have a
chiid's hxht limbs. sad elaid's dimpled
hand. and a cbild's beaning eye, and a
childs aaxer hair. and babyAood was 70 b
houored for al tiTns 70 ecne, AMI a cradle
was g mean more fhsn grave. Mighty
/ Godl Nay tls rejection * that oue child's
face b zeen IN al infsneile faces. Enough
have az thoss fsshers and mothers on haud
E II they have a child IN the housa A throne,
crown. a sceptsr, a kingdom under charge.
E,e C-arefal how You strike hirs across the
teasi. jazrfnx the brain What you say 20
I'm wiil be centennial ard nilenial, and a
hundred yes1s and = thoussni pears vii not
stop she eche and rs-echa. Do sos SAY "It Is
only a chit3. Rather say "lt is oriY an I'm
l rnortsi~ e IS only = masterpia-eff Jehovah
( K + oulv = beng that shall oatiiVe
san and mceu ard star and sSps qEsssirii-
lssnniai God has infinite resources and He
can give presents of grsat vslue. Dat When be
warts e. give TIE richess possible gifts - A